Christmas Trailer Week continues with the first part of Peter Jackson's fanatically-anticipated return to Middle Earth, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first full clip for which has just arrived.

Crikey: where to start? Well, first we've got Ian Holm as Bilbo, revealing in voice-over that he may not have told Frodo quite the entire story of his previous adventures. Then we cut to earlier times, and the days when Holm was Martin Freeman, whereupon Ian McKellen's Gandalf invites him on a quest and introduces the baker's dozen dwarves (a quick shot for each) that'll be sharing the adventure. We're pronouncing Thorin as it looks written down, by the way. We think we're right in saying that Tolkien would have had us say "Taur-een". But anyway, whatever.

Then there's a turn for the sinister after all that lot, with Thorin and his troop singing an eerie song about The Misty Mountains, as we're given glimpses of Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Gandalf at Rivendell (we didn't spot Elrond though), and Gandalf in the trolls' stone circle, before some glorious wide-shots of New Zealand Middle Earth landscapes, a bit of mustering and Sting-waving (the sword, not Gordon Sumner), some troll-battling, and a visit to the cave system where Smeagol guards his Precious, and wonders what a Baggins is...

OK, so if we weren't before, now we're excited, and there's another bloody year to wait! Still, we're sure there'll be plenty more to tide us over, not least of which is the first poster, in both formats.

Not a single use of the word "Hobbit", you'll notice. Just "An Unexpected Journey, from the director of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy". But it's not like nobody will know what it's talking about.

Pick up the new issue of Empirefor some of our own adventures on the set. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is out on December 14, 2012.

Looks Great!
I love the fact it visually resembles the scenes in LOTR,
Also, i like how it seems more light-hearted and humorous than LOTR, i expected it to be dark but no, it seems to tie in well with the book (a children's story, not an epic like LOTR) well done jackson! More

Firstly this film WILL be brilliant, even with Jackson's tendency to adapt certain pieces from the novels and slot them into the story elsewhere, you can tell that he knows what he's doing and how much he cares for the works of Professor Tolkien. Which brings me onto my second point, the guy (or girl) above who said that Tolkien was a sell-out is a complete moron; 1) During the height of their fame The Beatles (who were practically gods) asked if they could make a film of TLOTR - Tolkien turned More

This looks like the Hobbit story, told using the same or similar methods to the Lord of the Rings, which isn't a bad thing... The trailers what you'd expect, but I'm just looking forward to seeing the legend that is Sir Ian Mckellan playing Gandalf again.. More

L: Spaldron
L: Cool Breeze
L: Tech_Noir
L: matty_b
If this was a cash in, it would have been rushed out a year or two after ROTK with or without Jackson at the helm.
rom my understanding the only reason it didn't happen was legal complications.
Look, I know billions of LOTR fans want to see these films, I'm just saying these films probably wont offer anything that changes ones interpretation of the three mega blockbusters that already exist.
]
Well im ha More

L: Cool Breeze
L: Tech_Noir
L: matty_b
If this was a cash in, it would have been rushed out a year or two after ROTK with or without Jackson at the helm.
rom my understanding the only reason it didn't happen was legal complications.
Look, I know billions of LOTR fans want to see these films, I'm just saying these films probably wont offer anything that changes ones interpretation of the three mega blockbusters that already exist.
]
Well im hardly a fan of thes More

L: Tech_Noir
L: matty_b
If this was a cash in, it would have been rushed out a year or two after ROTK with or without Jackson at the helm.
rom my understanding the only reason it didn't happen was legal complications.
Look, I know billions of LOTR fans want to see these films, I'm just saying these films probably wont offer anything that changes ones interpretation of the three mega blockbusters that already exist.
Well im hardly a fan of these films but its called the More

not for me.
only ever been able to stomach Freeman in Sherlock too.
And there's too many great big bushy beards.
don't hate me Tokien fans, I'm certain it will actually be very good and if I ever gave it half a chance I might enjoy it More

L: wesh
trailer looks pretty good. bilbo's safety is emphasized a couple of times which i found unnecessary because he's okay in the other movies.
sp;
You know something that irks me slightly about the trilogy is that there is far too many times when you are lead to think that a main character has died or is away to die. I know Jackson is upping the ante but he does it a little too much, Gandalf in FOTR is important but Aragorn in TTT in particular just seems a little unnecessary, More

L: wesh
trailer looks pretty good. bilbo's safety is emphasized a couple of times which i found unnecessary because he's okay in the other movies.
eople keep saying that but he is far from 'ok' after the Hobbit. As seen in LOTR the ring twists Bilbo and corrupts him, obviously nowhere near as much as Gollum but he was most definitely on the same path. Just because somebody doesn't get killed does not mean that they are not 'undamaged'.
More

L: Tech_Noir
Come on, it's a cash in.
An after thought since LOTR was a big hit.
es it is an after though, adapting a classic book that was written 20 years before LOTR and one that Jackson planned to make before he filmed LOTR but couldn't get the rights. Yes, pure cash in.
L: matty_b
the irony of a Star Wars fan accusing another director of cash ins...f this was a cash in, it would have been rushed out a year or two after ROTK with or without Jackson at the hhis, so much thi More

I had this friend once who dated a hot girl, and then split up.
He kept insisting that he didn't care what she got up to afterwards, but was secretly consumed with jealousy and keep obsessively snooping on her Facebook and breaking into her emails
You remind me of him. More

L: matty_b
You know an awful lot about a series of films you profess to hate, don't you? ote]
Yup, I'm fascinated by LOTR because I saw all three, wasn't impressed, yet they made billions.
Twilight and Harry Potter I can understand, this I don't. More

L: matty_b
If this was a cash in, it would have been rushed out a year or two after ROTK with or without Jackson at the helm.
rom my understanding the only reason it didn't happen was legal complications.
Look, I know billions of LOTR fans want to see these films, I'm just saying these films probably wont offer anything that changes ones interpretation of the three mega blockbusters that already exist. More

Well, I still find Transformers to be more of a spectacle than anything from Peter Jackson.
Bottomline, Hobbit 1-2 will be box office hits by default (ditto Michael Bay doing a Transformers 4), but it feels like Jackson is scraping the barrel for more cash rather than using his position to do something original. More

L: Tech_Noir
Come on, it's a cash in.
ike I said: from the studio's perspective it undoubtedly is. I don't claim to have an insight into Jackson's mindset, but he's a legit director with the best intentions, even if those intentions are invested in crap like The Lovely Bones and sub par fare like King Kong.
And quite frankly, Techmeister, as a defender of the Transformers franchise, you have a bit of cheek dismissing The Hobbit as a cash-in. DIT - Sorry for the low blow, dude. More

Clearly the studio's decision to greenlight two more Rings movies is predicated on the original trilogy making a metric fuck load of cash, but the main thing is that Jackson doesn't treat The Hobbit as just a money making venture and actually bothers to make a pair of good films
I'm not a huge fan of Jackson and frankly I can take or leave LOTR, but his heart seems to be in the right place. More

L: Tech_Noir
L: Rgirvan44
L: Tech_Noir
L: Rgirvan44
What exactly were you expecting when you clicked on it? Why did you bother?
t's one of the big tent poles of 2012, that's why I bothered.
eah but you hate LOTR. This won't be any different to the other three films.
now see that.
A naive innocent little person is sent on a dangerous journey revolving around a magic ring and is protected by some mighty warriors. The only difference this time is More

L: Tech_Noir
L: Rgirvan44
Actully the Ring doesn't play that big a part in this story.
orry, was misled by the trailer that pushed it to the foreground. ote]
I said "that big a part" not that it plays no part.
More

L: Rgirvan44
L: Tech_Noir
L: Rgirvan44
What exactly were you expecting when you clicked on it? Why did you bother?
t's one of the big tent poles of 2012, that's why I bothered.
eah but you hate LOTR. This won't be any different to the other three films.
now see that.
A naive innocent little person is sent on a dangerous journey revolving around a magic ring and is protected by some mighty warriors. The only difference this time is that I know the ou More

L: Tech_Noir
L: Rgirvan44
What exactly were you expecting when you clicked on it? Why did you bother?
t's one of the big tent poles of 2012, that's why I bothered.
eah but you hate LOTR. This won't be any different to the other three films.
More

L: JIm R
now why my original post has been deleted but I'll try again....hought is was a great trailer but whatever version is released at cinema, we just know there is a director's cut waiting to be seen.
Just gives you a warm glow in being back amongst all this.
'm with you, Jim. And when the DC is released, I can sense a Hobbit/LotR's marathon.
I absolutely adore the trailer music and the Misty Mountains song. Gotta admit Armitage has got a great voice - sent shiv More

L: kumar]I think Smaug would atleast appear in part 1sp;
I would have thought we'd glimpse him - extreme, forboding close-ups of wings, claws and sillouettes - through establishing flashbacks (Jackson does love those) but that his full glory will be saved until There and Back Again. Much like Gollum in Fellowship. More

L: Jasper_29
At the risk of sounding like I've lived under a rock for the past year, which isn't far from the truth, but -- does Jackson save Smaug for the second chapter?
The trailer is great and but those shots with artificial lighing are distracting. The shot with Galadriel and Gandalf... please no.
remember battle of the five armies being at the end of the Hobbit book. This trailer gives nothing away other than a glimpse of those three trolls. I dont see this film starting More

At the risk of sounding like I've lived under a rock for the past year, which isn't far from the truth, but -- does Jackson save Smaug for the second chapter?
The trailer is great and but those shots with artificial lighing are distracting. The shot with Galadriel and Gandalf... please no. More

I don't think I can handle Jackson's interpretation of 13 dwarfs for three hours. One Gimli was more than enough.
This also looks extraordinarily cheap compared to LOTR due to the digital photography. More

now why my original post has been deleted but I'll try again....p;
Thought is was a great trailer but whatever version is released at cinema, we just know there is a director's cut waiting to be seen.
Just gives you a warm glow in being back amongst all this. More

Sad but true, i find most of my major movie news on various computer game sites sometimes days before Empire covers it, and i haven't bought a magazine in months for precisely this reason. Trailer looks awesome though, can't wait! More